NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – In a second half that saw five ties and five lead changes, a 10-0 run by the Apprentice School over a 2:47 span late in the second half lifted the Builders over the University of Mary Washington 76-74 on Tuesday night at Apprentice gym.

The Builders, who snapped a six-game winning streak by the Eagles with the win, avenged an earlier loss to UMW 82-74 in the UMW Tip-off classic on November 19.  Both teams saw their record go to 6-2 on the night.

Apprentice School opened the game blistering hot jumping out to a 10-point advantage on three occasions in the first 7:27 as a three-point play from Lance Darden gave the hosts a 21-11 lead with 12:33 left.  UMW used a 13-2 run over a 5:40 span later in the half to swing a seven-point deficit to a 37-33 advantage on a pair of Walt Smith free throws with 1:48 left in the half.

In the second half, the visiting Eagles got out to a six point lead early as Tad Dickman's layup with 18:45 left put them ahead 44-38.  Apprentice School went on a 19-6 run to take a 57-50 advantage on a layup from Tevin Andrews with 13:17 remaining.  UMW fought back and got the lead back to six points with 3:55 left on a Taylor Johnson 3-pointer to lead 70-64. 

From there, Isaih Harrison had a hand in the 10 of the last 12 points for the Builders.  A stickback and layup from Harrison brought the Builders to 70-68 with 2:31 left.  Following a jumper from Andrews with 1:47 left that tied the game, the defense forced a turnover and had the ball with 1:20 left.  Harrison followed his own miss five seconds later to give the Builders a 72-70 lead.  On the ensuing foul shot, he rebounded his miss for a stick back to put Apprentice School up 74-70.

After a layup from Ryan Henderson to bring UMW to 74-72, Harrison gathered a loose ball and found Andrews alone for a thunderous dunk to put Apprentice up 76-72.  A late bucket gave UMW one last shot and following a Builder turnover, Andrews blocked a potential game-winning 3-pointer from Smith to seal the win.

Harrison recorded his eighth double-double on the year with 28 points and 13 rebounds, while Andrews and Darden chipped in with 12 points apiece.  Freshman Lavontae Thomas had nine points and seven assists, while junior Duane Douglas was a force on the defensive end with a school-record nine blocked shots.  Bradley Reister topped UMW with 18 points, while Smith and Taylor Johnson added 11 each.

The Builders hit 58.6% from the field on the night (34-of-58) and were 18-of-29 (62.1%) in the final 20 minutes.  UMW was 29-of-75 from the floor (38.7%) and out-rebounded the Builders 47-34 including a 24-9 offensive rebounding edge. 

Apprentice School will now hit the road to Media, PA for a matchup on Saturday afternoon with Williamson Trade School in a USCAA encounter at 3 pm.

RECORDS SWATTED

Several marks were swatted away – literally – on Tuesday night.

• With his stickback to put Apprentice School up 74-70, that rebound broke the school career rebounding record for Harrison to give him 759.  The former record was 758 held by Maze Toomer from 2000-04.
• With his 28 points, Harrison is now over 1,300 for his career – now at 1327 and solidly in third place on the career scoring list.  He is 99 points from Toomer in second place with 1,426.
• Douglas swatted a school-record nine shots on Tuesday night to topple the mark of seven held by Steve Butler, ironically against Mary Washington January 9, 1996.
• With the blocked shot at the end by Andrews, the team ended the night with 12 blocked shots to swat the school record of 11 that was done three times – the last being against Williamson Trade on Feb. 25 this year.